Link Centre Dictionary

insectivore

in·sec·ti·vore

UK/ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔː/ US/ɪnˈsɛktəˌvɔɹ/ uncommon dated

noun

1.

small insect-eating mainly nocturnal terrestrial or fossorial mammals

2.

any organism that feeds mainly on insects

Origin

From French insectivore. In the zoological sense, coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1840 as an adaptation of Cuvier's coinage, French insectivore. The French terms reflect scientific New Latin origins. By surface analysis, insect + -i- + -vore.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.